The present invention relates to an ink jet system containing an ink jet head for spraying hotmelt ink image-wise, means for keeping the hotmelt ink in a molten state in the head, and a guide system by means of which the head can be moved along a receiving sheet and to a rest station.
The use of hotmelt inks is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,439, which describes an ink jet head which is filled with ink which is solid at room temperature. This solid ink is melted and brought to a temperature of 100.degree. C. to 150.degree. C. In order to print a receiving sheet with an ink jet head of this kind, the head is placed on a guide system, as described for example in EP-A-0 644 056 and moved perpendicular to the direction of advance of the receiving paper, the image being printed strip-wise on the receiving sheet. A disadvantage of the combined apparatus is that in the standby mode the ink jet head consumes a large amount of unnecessary energy, because the ink must be maintained in the molten state and because the head is exposed to the atmosphere and thus the heat dissipates very quickly to the surroundings.